Anna and Abel couldn't be more different. They are both seventeen and in
their last year of school, but while Anna lives in a nice old town house
and comes from a well-to-do family, Abel, the school drug dealer, lives
in a big, prisonlike tower block at the edge of town. Anna is afraid of
him until she realizes that he is caring for his six-year-old sister on
his own. Fascinated, Anna follows the two and listens as Abel tells
little Micha the story of a tiny queen assailed by dark forces. It's a
beautiful fairy tale that Anna comes to see has a basis in reality. Abel
is in real danger of losing Micha to their abusive father and to his own
inability to make ends meet. Anna gradually falls in love with Abel, but
when his enemies begin to turn up dead, she fears she has fallen for a
murderer. Has she?Award-winning author Antonia Michaelis moves in a bold
new direction with her latest novel: a dark, haunting, contemporary
story that is part mystery, part romance, and part melodrama.